After taking a break from the successful pop group Wilson Phillips in the late ’90s, Chynna married actor William Baldwin and took time off to focus on her three children.

Now, the 43-year-old entertainer is back in the limelight after Wilson Phillips’ surprise cameo in the blockbuster hit Bridesmaids. She’s also tearing up the dance floor as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars.

Chynna, who is the daughter of musicians John and Michelle Phillips of famed 60’s group The Mamas and The Papas, talked to Parade.com about her biggest competition on DWTS and how she can’t wait to make new music with Wilson Phillips.

On Dancing With the Stars. “It’s been a real ride! I actually never watched the show before and I’d like to think it’s an advantage because I really walked in there with a fresh perspective. I had no idea what to expect and that really worked for me. All I knew was that I just had to dance well. So I just went to my dance lessons and listened to what Tony [Dovolani] had to say and followed his orders and then went out there and executed it. I don’t get my head all into the competition and the judges and the millions of people that are watching. I just have to stay laser-beam focused on the dancing.”

On her biggest competition. “Clearly J.R. Martinez has tremendous natural ability as a dancer, so I would have to say that it’s J.R. He’s an amazing guy. Everything you see on the dance floor, he is and more. He is so gregarious and fun to hang out with. Every time I turn around, he’s giving me a wink or putting an arm around me and encouraging me and giving me a nice word. He’s just a very sweet guy. If I had to lose the competition to somebody, J.R.’s the guy I’d want to lose it to.”

On what has surprised her most about the experience. “Just how tired and exhausted I feel! I didn’t expect my body to feel like it’s been thrown into such a state of shock. After I finish doing a dance session, I truly feel like I would benefit from a direct IV of fluid and a stretcher. I just want to be carried out of each dance lesson. They’re so exhausting, but they’re also really exhilarating.”

On her biggest fans. “My kids are being very supportive. They can hardly believe I’m on the show. It’s hysterical. They just keep saying, ‘Mom, don’t stress out. Relax, loosen up, have a good time!’ They’ve been very supportive and it means the world to me.”

On raising a family in Hollywood. “For the longest time, they didn’t even know that I was famous. I didn’t talk to them about it and I wasn’t working. My whole life was dedicated to the kids. Just in the past couple years, I have started dabbling in my career again, so now they’re beginning to say, ‘Ah, mom had a full-on career before we existed!’ I’m living one of my dreams right now and that’s what I want for my kids. I want them to know that they’re capable to go out there and do what they love and make a living doing it. I always tell my kids make your vocation your vacation.”

On reuniting with Wilson Philips. “We are in the process of recording a tribute record to our parents. It’s all Mamas and Papas and Beach Boys classics. We’re calling the album Dedicated and that will be out early next year. We’re super excited about singing together again. We have nine children between the three of us, so we’ve come a long way in the past 20 years. It’s fun to be singing again. These are my oldest, dearest friends and to be able to harmonize with them again is a real blessing.”

On Wilson Phillips’ Bridesmaids cameo. “We got an out-of-the-blue phone call asking if we’d be interested in doing a cameo in the movie. It was a Judd Apatow film, so we knew that it had a high probability of being a very funny, high profile movie, so we agreed to do it. Honestly, we had no idea that it was going to unleash in the way that it did. It just sort of took over the nation. It gave us the shot in the arm we needed. We needed something to help resurrect our career.”